1,156-Car Parking Facility Will Rise Next to LEED Platinum Project

Downtown Nashville is on its way to get a swanky new parking lot that would boost downtown parking spaces by six percent – a welcome addition, as the Nashville Downtown Partnership estimates that 20,000 parking spaces are available in downtown core, whereas 35,000 people work in the area with the city’s tourist influx making the parking shortage even more acute

Downtown Nashville is on its way to getting a swanky new parking lot that would boost downtown parking spaces by six percent—a welcome addition, as the Nashville Downtown Partnership estimates that 20,000 parking spaces are available in the downtown core, whereas 35,000 people work in the area with the city’s tourist influx making the parking shortage even more acute, reports the Nashville Business Journal.

In order to alleviate the parking shortage of the downtown core, the Metropolitan Development and Housing Authority (MDHA) has signed a memorandum of agreement with Nashville developer Tony Giarratana to purchase from the latter 0.8 acres of land for $9 million for a future parking facility. R.C.Matthews Contractor will build the $21.6 million structure which is expected to be up and running by late 2015. According to the Nashville Business Journal, the parking garage will offer 1,156 spaces and will be jointly designed by MDHA and Giarratana with EOA Architects at the helm. The facility, which will feature street-level retail, will be financed by Cleveland, Ohio-based Gates Group Capital Partners.

The 0.8 acres purchased by the MDHA, along with Giarratana’s remaining 0.4 acres are currently housing a surface parking lot of Premier Parking, which Giarratana co-owns. The site was intended to hold Signature Tower, the Southeast’s tallest skyscraper. The project was scrapped as the Great Recession hit. The Nashville developer then came up with the 505 CST project, a 750-foot skyscraper, that would be Nashville’s tallest if developed.

Although several versions of 505 CST have been imagined, from full residential to full commercial use and a mixture of the two, according to Giarratana Development’s website, 505 CST will be a mixed-use tower featuring 700,000 square feet of Class A office space, a 200-key, five-star hotel, a world-class conference center with 6,000-square-foot ballroom and 1,000-car underground parking facility. The project is set to feature a striking design with solar panels, two Skygardens, an under-floor air distribution system, which will contribute towards achieving the building’s targeted LEED Platinum certification. The development will also target meeting the energy goals of the 2030 Challenge, an international initiative pushing towards innovative energy efficient architectural practices and lowering energy consumptions to zero fossil fuel dependency by 2030.